Note: This topic only applies to non-searchable PDF files, where each page of the PDF is being created as an image. For information on reducing file size with searchable PDF, please see this topic: Reduce Searchable PDF File Size
The file size of your output PDF files can be reduced by adjusting the color reduction and compression options. Color reduction and Compression are controlled through the profile. The default color reduction and compression options selected for the system profiles provided with PDF Image Printer will often give a good balance between file size and quality.
Reducing the file size of your PDF files is largely dependent upon the input documents you are converting. An issue you may encounter is balancing file size with image quality. If you require assistance reducing your file size, please contact PEERNET support.
Color Reduction
Step by Step Instructions
1.Launch the PDF Image Printer Dashboard.
2.Select "Edit & Create Profiles" to open Profile Manager.
3.Select "Add a profile" to create a personal profile, or create a copy of one of our system profiles.
4.Name the profile, add a description, and click Save.
5.On the Save Options tab, under Output Type and Color, enable Create each page of the PDF as an image.
6.Then drop the box next to "Reduce colors to" and select your desired color reduction.
Color Reduction refers to the number of colors that are saved in the output PDF file. The default setting is reduce colors to optimal palette which means that PDF Image Printer will reduce each page down to the smallest number of colors required to represent that page. Therefore all colors present in the original file will be maintained in the output PDF file.
Other color reduction options include:
•Reduce to black and white
•Reduce to greyscale
•Reduce colors to 256 color palette
•Reduce colors to 16 color palette
•Reduce colors to Optimal color, maximum 256 colors
•Reduce colors to Optimal color, maximum 16 colors
•None
All of these other options will limit the number of colors saved in the output PDF file to different degrees.
Reduce to black and white may work to reduce the file size of a text only document, but keep in mind that this color reduction option will only keep two colors - black and white - in the output PDF file, which may interrupt anti-aliasing technique used to smooth the appearance of letters.
Reduce to greyscale will effectively reduce the file size of a document with colored images by converting the colored images to greyscale images. We would not recommend using reduce to black and white when converting documents with images. If you must use reduce to black and white, we do offer a few dithering methods that you can experiment with.
7.Click Save-Back, and close Profile Manager.
If you plan to use these settings regularly, you may wish to make this personal profile the default profile used by PDF Image Printer.
i.Select the printer you wish to edit and use the Profile drop box to select your desired default profile.
ii.Select "Manage Printers" to open Printer Management.
iii.Select the Save icon to save changes.
iv.Select the Home icon to return to the Dashboard.
8.Close the Dashboard. Now when you print your document to PDF Image Printer, the color reduction option you selected will be applied to the output PDF file.
Compression
Step by Step Instructions
1.Launch the PDF Image Printer Dashboard.
2.Select "Edit & Create Profiles" to open Profile Manager.
3.Select "Add a profile" to create a personal profile, or create a copy of one of our system profiles.
4.Name the profile, add a description, and click Save.
5.On the Save Options tab, under Output Type and Color, enable Create each page of the PDF as an image.
6.On the Compression tab, you can change the compression method used based on the color reduction option selected on the Save Options tab. Be sure that you are changing the correct compression field in relation to the color reduction option selected. If you are using the default color reduction option, reduce colors to optimal palette, then you should be working with the Color images compression field. Typically you will only need to change the compression method if you have been instructed to do so by a publisher or archiving software. By default, PDF compression is enabled. Disabling PDF compression would increase your file size.
7.Click Save-Back, and close Profile Manager.
If you plan to use these settings regularly, you may wish to make this personal profile the default profile used by PDF Image Printer.
i.Select the printer you wish to edit and use the Profile drop box to select your desired default profile.
ii.Select "Manage Printers" to open Printer Management.
iii.Select the Save icon to save changes.
iv.Select the Home icon to return to the Dashboard.
8.Close the Dashboard. Now when you print your documents to PDF Image Printer, the compression option you selected will be applied to the output PDF file.
